pay it into your account tomorrow as a little surprise.”
“That’s pretty nice of you,” Hame said, suddenly jovial. “I guess I could use it. I got
expenses same as anyone. Sounds as if we’re going to get along together all right. Where’s
Ricca?”
Again I held my breath.
“I have an idea he’s enjoying himself at Zoe’s place. I don’t know, but that’s my guess.
Come up and see him tomorrow. There’ll be things to talk about.”
“I will, Mrs. Wertham.” The chair creaked as he stood up. “Guess I won’t keep you any
longer. Had I better have a word with Miss Doering? They’re still searching for Reisner.”
“Perhaps you’d better. Don’t tell her what’s happened. We don’t want it talked about. You
might say you’ve heard he’s in town. We’ll straighten things out tomorrow.”
“I’ll do that. Well, good night. I’m looking forward to working with you two. I’m looking
forward to it very much.”
“And so are we, Captain.”
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I listened to him tramp across the room.
“I’ll be dropping in on my bank tomorrow afternoon.”
“We’ll be there before that, Captain.” I could imagine the smile she gave him. “Good
night.”
The door shut.
We waited: she out there, and I in the darkness with Reisner’s dead body somewhere
behind me. We heard a car start up and drive away.
She pushed open the bathroom door.
“Well, I handled him, Johnny.”
“Yes.” I moved out of the darkness.
There was that cold, triumphant gleam in her eyes I had seen before.
“Better get going,” she said. “We’re practically in the clear now. They’ll think he went to
say good-bye to the lions and got too close. Get going, Johnny.”
I looked over my shoulder into the dark bathroom. I didn’t want to do it, but I could think
of no other way out. The thought of carrying him through the darkness brought me out in
goose-pimples.
“My car’s outside,” she said, speaking softly. “Put him in it and follow the carriageway
around to the back of the casino. You know where the pit is. It shouldn’t take more than five
minutes. Hurry, Johnny.”
“Maybe you’d better handle the car …”
“I’m staying right here. This is where you earn your share of the money, Johnny. Make a
mistake and it’s all yours. You killed him; you fix it. Get going!”
I went into the bathroom and turned on the light. He was lying on his back, his head still
wrapped in the towel. I kept my eyes averted as I took hold of him. His muscles were
wooden, and he was heavy. I got him across my shoulder and stood up. Sweat ran down my
face, and I had trouble with my breathing. As I came out of the bathroom with him, she
turned off the lights and opened the door.
As I passed her she jerked at the towel, pulling it away. I didn’t stop. The car was where
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she had said it would be. It was an open convertible, and I dropped him in the back seat
without any trouble. She came up with a blanket and spread it over him.
“Good luck, Johnny,” she said. “Come straight back. I want to talk to you.”
I got in the car, trod on the starter and drove away without looking at her. The clock on the
dashboard showed twenty to one. In the distance I could see the bright lights around the
swimming-pool. People were out there, bathing. The casino was lit up like a Christmas tree. I
could see men and women, in evening dress, on the verandah, caught glimpses of them
through the windows of tlje gambling rooms, and heard their hard, strident voices, raised in
excitement.
I drove slowly, with only the parking lights on, and followed the carriageway past the
casino. There were too many lights, and it was like driving with a searchlight focused on me.
But beyond the casino it was dark. I kept the car moving. I could smell the lions now. One of
them gave a sudden grunting cough. I slowed down. Ahead of me I could just make out the
white posts supporting the iron railings around the pit. I stopped the car and turned off the
lights.
For a minute or so I sat motionless, my eyes searching the darkness, my ears straining for
any sound. I saw nothing. I heard only the restless movement in the pit: the soft pad, pad, pad
of one of the lions as it paced up and down. I got out of the car, crossed the grass verge to the
railings and looked down. It was too dark to see anything: the smell of the lion came up to
me; the padding suddenly stopped. I looked to right and left. No one was likely to be here.
There was nothing to see. The zoo was the only place on the estate Reisner hadn’t floodlit
Drawing in a deep breath I returned to the car. I pulled the blanket off him and carefully
folded it, putting it on the seat next to the driving seat. Again I looked to right and left, then I
caught hold of him and heaved him out of the car. His stiff, claw-like hand brushed across my
face as I got him over my shoulder, and I nearly dropped him. I was panting, and my heart
was jumping about in my chest like a flea on a hot stove. I staggered with him across the
close-cut grass. The lion below must have smelt him. It gave a sudden choked roar.
I leaned my heaving chest against the railings and bent forward. Reisner’s body began to
slide slowly off my shoulder. I shoved it into the darkness. It went easily enough. I continued
to lean against the railings, my eyes closed, my hands gripping the iron spikes. I heard his
body thud on to the concrete below. It was a thirty-foot drop. There was a rushing sound as
the lion bounded forward.
I pushed myself away from the railings, gulping in warm air, turned and moved unsteadily
back to the car. Well, it was done. The horrible sounds coming out of the dark pit told me I
was safe. By the time they found him no one would know I had killed him.
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I crossed the grass, trying to shut out the snarling, flurrying rush of the other lions as they
came out of their cave. The roaring, snarling and growling filled the silent night with a
hideous pandemonium.
I began to sweat as I got hurriedly into the car. I hadn’t reckoned on this awful noise. I had
to get away quick. My foot went down on the starter. Nothing happened. I could see the
brightly lit verandah of the casino, not a hundred yards away. Men and women, sitting under
the lights, were getting up and coming to the verandah rail, looking in the direction of the pit.
Again I trod on the starter, still nothing happened. Sweat was running off my face. I had to
control a crazy impulse to get out of the car and run. I had to get it started! Then it flashed
through my mind I hadn’t turned on the ignition. As my shaking hand reached for the key I
saw three or four men running down the terrace steps. I touched the starter again and the
engine fired. Keeping in bottom gear I let the car move silently forward. I was shaking like a
leaf. I got around the bend as the first of the men came pounding across the lawn. Shifting
through the gears, I kept the car moving. They couldn’t hear the engine above the hideous
uproar that was coming from the pit.
I increased speed. A couple of minutes later I saw the lights of Della’s cabin. I pulled up,
got out and walked up the path. She stood in the doorway waiting. Even as far away as we
were now from the zoo, we could hear the choked roars and screams of the lions.
I pushed past her, went into the cabin and slopped myself a big whisky.
She came in and shut the door. Her face was pale, and her eyes wide and shadowy.
“Did they see you?”
I shook my head.
“Better pull yourself together,” she said impatiently. “Hame may be back.”