The boy studied the major for several seconds.
‘Honest?’
The major nodded.
‘Honest.’
‘You won’t give the reward to my father? You’ll give it to me?’
‘I’ll give it to you.’
‘Five thousand?’
‘That’s right.’
The boy brooded for a long moment while the three men watched him.
‘No fooling?’ he asked, staring at the major. ‘You’ll give me the reward if I tell you?’
The major nodded, his smile very wide and very sincere.
‘No fooling, son. When the Army says something, the Army means just what it says.’
Again the boy brooded, then finally he said, ‘Well, then I’ll tell you. There are four of them: three men and a girl. Two of the men stayed in the caravan all day. They only left at night. I saw them leave after it got dark. I have the number of the car. They said they were going to Stag Lake, but they were lying. They took the road to the highway and that’s no way to go to Stag Lake. The caravan is white with a blue top.’ He took from his pocket a much thumbed notebook and tore out a page. ‘That’s the car number.’
‘But how do you know the truck is in the caravan?’ Delaney asked, carefully putting the scrap of paper into his wallet.
‘I saw it when the two men got into the caravan in the morning,’ the boy said. ‘I got up specially early to watch.’
‘But how did you know it was the truck?’
The boy regarded the major patiently.
‘I read the description in the papers. It was the truck all right.’
‘When did they leave?’
‘Yesterday midday. I saw them go. They didn’t take the road to Stag Lake. They were heading for the mountains.’
‘We’ve lost a lot of time,’ Delaney said, frowning. ‘Why didn’t you get your father to telephone us?’
‘I asked him. He wouldn’t let me and he wouldn’t do it himself, that’s why I wrote,’ the boy said. ‘He said all cops were crooks.’
Delaney and Cooper stared hard at Bradford for a long moment.
‘I was just fooling,’ Bradford said in a small voice, his face red. ‘I didn’t really think.’
‘Can you give me a description of these people?’ Delaney said, turning to the boy.
‘Sure,’ the boy said and gave an accurate description of Kitson, Ginny, Gypo and Bleck.
Cooper wrote down the descriptions in his notebook.
‘That’s fine, son,’ Delaney said. ‘You’ve done a swell job. I’ll certainly recommend you for the reward if we find the truck.’
‘You’ll find it all right,’ the boy said. He took off his hat and shook out the grass. ‘There’s something wrong with this idea. It gets hot too quickly.’
Cooper said with a grin, ‘Try putting some ice in it. That’ll cool you off.’
The boy’s look was withering.
‘That’s a dumb idea,’ he said. ‘The ice would melt.’
Delaney patted the boy on his shoulder.
‘I’ll tell you how to fix it,’ he said. ‘Cut the top off the hat: that’ll let the air in and it’ll also start a new fashion.’
The boy considered this, then he nodded.
‘That’s quite smart,’ he said. ‘I’ll try it. There could be money in it.’
As the two men walked back to their car, Delaney said, ‘Up in the mountains: that’s the one spot we haven’t checked. They could be up there.’
‘No, they couldn’t,’ Cooper said. ‘If I thought they could have got up there, I’d have checked before now, but no one could get up there. The road is washed out. You could never get the truck up that bit of road.’
‘They might have been lucky,’ Delaney said. ‘There is nowhere else to look. I’m going to check.’
Cooper got into the car and started the engine.
‘Are you really going to recommend that kid for the reward?’ he asked.
Delaney settled himself beside Cooper. There was a faraway expression in his eyes as he said, ‘What is a kid of ten going to do with five thousand bucks? His father would only grab it.’ He glanced at Cooper and his smile appeared very sincere. ‘We know who is going to get the reward, don’t we? It is stated whoever finds the truck gets the reward. I guess you and me will find it so we will get the reward.’
Cooper blew out his cheeks.
‘The way you talked to that kid had me worried.’
Delaney nodded.
‘I know how to handle kids,’ he said. ‘You’ve got to be goddamn sincere with them, otherwise they don’t trust you. I’ve always been a pretty sincere man,’ and he laughed.
II
It was a little after nine o’clock when Kitson came back to the camp. He carried Gypo’s shovel on his shoulder and his shirt was plastered with sweat.
Ginny was sitting on a rock in the shade of a tree, her face very white and her eyes full of unshed tears.
Bleck had got the truck out of the caravan. He was leaning against the door, his ear to the lock, his right hand moving the dial very slowly and carefully while he listened.
Kitson put down the shovel, then went over to join Ginny. He sat down at her feet and lit a cigarette, his hands unsteady.
She reached out and put her hand on his shoulder.
‘What a way to die,’ Kitson said, reaching up and covering her hand with his. ‘There was nothing I could do for him. He died while that rat and I were fighting, but even at that, I could never have got him to hospital in time.’
‘Don’t talk about it, Alex.’
‘And burying him like that: the way you bury a dog. He was a good guy, Ginny. I ought to have listened to him. He didn’t want this job. He tried to talk me into quitting. I wish I had listened to him.’
‘Yes.’
‘He said nothing good would come of it. He was right. Let’s get out of here, Ginny. You and me. As soon as it’s dark, we’ll go.’
‘Yes,’ Ginny said. ‘It’s all my fault. I’ll never forgive myself. I started it. When you went down to bury him, I sat here, thinking. I can see how wrong and how bad I’ve been. Even if we open the truck right now I wouldn’t touch any of the money. I must have been out of my mind!’
‘You mean you will come with me?’ Kitson said, not looking at her. ‘We could start a new life, Ginny. Would you marry me?’
‘If that’s what you want,’ she said. ‘But you don’t really imagine we are going to get away with this, do you? Sooner or later, they’ll get onto us.’
Kitson stubbed out his cigarette and threw it away.
‘We might be lucky. It’s worth a try. We’ll take the Buick and make for the Mexican border. They haven’t got our descriptions. If we once get to Mexico.’
Bleck yelled, ‘Hey, Kitson! Come over here! What do you imagine you are doing? Come here and give me a hand!’
Kitson and Ginny exchanged glances, then Kitson got to his feet. He walked over to the truck.
‘Can you handle a flame?’ Bleck asked. His face was set and tense, his eyes wild-looking.
‘No.’
‘Well, now’s the time to learn. We’re going to burn our way into this goddamn box! Come on — give me a hand with the cylinders.’
‘Not me,’ Kitson said quietly.
Bleck glared at him.
‘What do you mean? We’ve got to get this truck open, haven’t we?’
‘I haven’t,’ Kitson said. ‘I’m through. I shouldn’t have touched this job. You open it. The money’s all yours if you can get at it. I’m quitting.’
Bleck drew in a long slow breath.