Davis saw Anne’s eyes widen. She struggled to speak.
‘Anne,’ he said, ‘Tell me something. Was your sister a redhead?’
Anne nodded dumbly, and he saw the confused look that stabbed her eyes. It was then that he realized he’d unconsciously used the past tense in talking about her sister.
‘I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘I’m sorry as hell, Anne.’ He paused and drew a deep breath. ‘Alice is dead.’
It was almost as if he’d struck her. She flinched, and then a strangled cry tried to shove its way past the gag.
‘Believe me,’ he said, ‘I’m sorry. I...’ He wiped his hand across his lips and then said, ‘I never thought to ask. About her hair, I mean. Hell, I had her picture and that was all I needed to identify her. ‘I’m... I’m sorry, Anne.’
He saw the tears spring into her eyes, and he went to her in spite of the .22 that was still pointed at him. He ripped the gag from her mouth, and she said, ‘I don’t understand. I... what... what do you mean?’
‘Alice left you on the sixth,’ he said, ‘to meet Tony Radner, allegedly to marry him. She didn’t know about the trap that had been planned by Tony and Janet Carruthers.’
Anne took her eyes from Davis and looked at the .22 in the woman’s hand. ‘Is... is that who...’
‘Janet Carruthers,’ Davis said, ‘who wanted to be free of her husband more than anything else in the world. But not at the expense of cutting herself off without a cent. So she and Tony figured it all out, and they started looking for a redhead who would take the hook. Your sister came along, starry-eyed and innocent, and Radner led her to the chopping block.’
Davis paused and turned to the redhead with the gun. ‘I can fill it in, if you like. A lot of guessing, but I think I’m right.’
‘Go ahead,’ Janet said. ‘Fill it in.’
‘Sure. Alice met Tony as scheduled on the day they were to be married. He probably suggested a drink in celebration, drugged her, and then took her some place to get her into some of your clothes. He drove her to the airport because your signature was necessary on the insurance policy. You insured Alice, who was now in Janet Carruthers’ clothing, with Janet Carruthers’ identification in case anything was left of her after the crash, for two hundred thousand dollars. And Janet Carruthers’ beneficiaries were Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Radner. You knew that Nick would be on the DC-4, but outside of him, no one else on the plane knew what you looked like. It would be simple to substitute Alice for you. You left the airport, probably to go directly to City Hall to wait for Tony. Tony waited until Nick took a pilot up on a test, and then he brought Alice to the plane, dumped her into her seat, with the bomb in her suitcase, and left to meet you. You got married shortly after the DC-4 took off. You used Alice Trimble’s name, and most likely the identification — if it was needed — that Tony had taken from her. The switch had been completed, and you were now Mrs. Radner. You flew together to Las Vegas, and as soon as the DC-4 crashed, you made your claim for the two hundred G’s.’
‘You’re right except for the drug, Mr. Davis. That would have been overdoing it a bit.’
‘All right, granted. What’d Tony do, just get her too damned drunk to walk or know what was going on.’
‘Exactly. Her wedding day, you know. It wasn’t difficult.’
Davis heard a sob catch in Anne’s throat. He glanced at her briefly and then said to Janet, ‘Did Tony know he was going to be driving into a pile of rocks?’
Janet smiled. ‘Poor Tony. No, I’m afraid he didn’t know. That part was all my idea. Even down to stripping the brakes. Tony never knew what hit him.’
‘Neither did all the people on that DC-4. It was a long way to go for a lousy hunk of cash,’ Davis said. ‘Was Tony insured, too?’
‘Yes,’ Janet said, ‘but not for much.’ She smiled. ‘Enough, though.’
Davis nodded. ‘One after the other, right down the line. And then you sent for Anne because she was the only living person who could know you were not Alice Trimble. And it had to be fast, especially after that picture appeared in the Las Vegas paper.’
‘Was that how you found out?’ she asked.
‘Exactly how. The picture was captioned Alice Radner but the girl didn’t match the one in the photo I had. Then I began thinking about the colour of Alice’s hair, which I knew was light, and it got clear as a bell.’ He shook his head sadly. ‘I still don’t know how you hoped to swing it. You obviously sent for Anne because you were afraid someone would recognize you in Frisco. Hell, someone would have recognized you sooner or later, anyway.’
‘In Mexico?’ Janet asked. ‘Or South America? I doubt it. Two hundred thousand can do a lot outside of this country, Mr. Davis. Plus what I’ll get on Tony’s death. I’ll manage nicely, don’t you worry.’ She smiled pleasantly.
Davis smiled back. ‘Go ahead,’ he said. ‘Shoot. And then try to explain the shots to your landlady.’
Janet Carruthers walked to the dresser, keeping the gun on Davis. ‘I hadn’t wanted to do it here,’ she said, shrugging. ‘I was going to take Miss Trimble away after everyone was asleep. You’re forcing my hand, though.’ She opened a drawer and came out with a long, narrow cylinder. The cylinder had holes punched into its sides, and Davis knew a silencer when he saw one. He saw Janet fitting the silencer to the end of the .22 and he saw the dull gleam in her eyes and knew it was time to move. He threw back his coat and reached for the .38 in his waistband. The .22 went off with a sharp pouff, and he felt the small bullet rip into his shoulder. But he’d squeezed the trigger of the .38 and he saw her arm jerk as his larger bullet tore flesh and bone. Her fingers opened, and the silenced gun fell to the floor.
Her face twisted in pain. She closed her eyes, and he kicked the gun away, and then she began swearing. She kept swearing when he took her good arm and twisted it behind her back.
He heard footsteps rushing up the stairs, and then the landlady shouted. ‘What is it? What is it?
‘Get the police!’ he yelled through the closed door. ‘Get them fast.’
‘You don’t know what you’re doing,’ Janet said. ‘This will kill my father.’
Davis looked over to where Anne sat sobbing on the bed. He wanted to go to her and clasp her into his arms, but there would be time for that later.
‘My father...’ Janet started.
‘Your father still has Nick.’ Davis said, ‘and his porcelain.’ His shoulder ached, and the trickle of blood down his jacket front was not pleasant to watch. He paused and lifted his eyes to Janet’s. ‘That’s all your father ever had.’
The Confession
I said Look, all I want is the truth, Liz. I just want to know what the hell’s going on. I can’t walk in that squadroom tomorrow and not be able to take a stand on this. It’s been going on too long up there, the guys talking behind my back. I got to be able to tell them they’re wrong. Whatever you done or didn’t do, that’s our business. If it’s true what they’re saying, well then we’ll have to talk it over. I don’t know what we’ll do if it’s true, Liz, I just don’t know. I know I love you. So if it’s true, I guess we’ll have to talk it over, find out how we can patch things up. I hope it isn’t true, Liz. I love you so much, I... I just hope it isn’t true. What I’m hoping is I can go in there tomorrow and tell the guys Look, I know what the rumble’s been around here, I wasn’t born yesterday. And I talked to my wife last night, and I’ve got the straight goods now, and if I ever hear anybody else around here even hinting she’s playing around, I’ll personally break his arms and legs. That’s what I’m hoping I can do tomorrow, Liz. But if it’s true what they’re saying, then I got to know that, too, so I can figure some way of handling it. You understand me, Liz? We been married twelve years now, we never had any trouble talking about anything before. I want to talk about it now. I want your side of it. So you want to tell me about it, or what?